Set apart for your worship, the building up of the living, and the remembrance of the dead, to the praise and glory of your Name

- from the Consecration of St. John’s, 1984

In 1789, Colonel Ransom Southerland donated land for a church in which “all denominations” could worship. The community took up a collection and built Wake Union Church serving different denominations for years. It was there that the Episcopal community was served by priests from Raleigh and, later, from Louisburg.

In the early 1920s it was decided also to serve the needs of the Episcopal community at Wake Forest college; consequently, services were moved to various locations in town – private homes, a funeral home, and a college classroom.

In 1953, a building campaign was initiated for a permanent church.  On Christmas Day, 1955, the first service was held at St. John’s home at 601 South Main Street, Wake Forest.  Land on which St. John’s currently resides was given in 1962 but it wasn’t until 1982 that a committee appointed by the Vestry began making plans for our present building

On the Third Sunday of Advent, December 16, 1984, the second home for St. John’s Episcopal Church was consecrated. Lists for those who helped bring about both homes can be found in the narthex, and foundation stones for both are now found in the present foundation adjacent to the entrance.

In 2000, we began yet another building campaign to create the education building adjoining the church and parish hall.  This wonderful addition hosts a range of programs, from a thriving preschool on weekday mornings to nursery services and church school classes on Sundays to choir practices, youth group gatherings and other meetings throughout the week.

Our history belongs to the realization that, indeed,

God has moved his people to build houses of prayer and praise, set apart places for the ministry of his Holy Word and Sacraments.